How to Write a Hardware Schedule That Doesn't Cause Site Problems

Most hardware schedules don't fail because they're badly written. They fail because the format hasn't kept up with what manufacturers need to deliver consistently.

We receive hardware schedules every week, from one-pair specifications for residential refurbishments through to multi-hundred-unit volume orders for commercial fit-outs. The good ones share the same structure. The problematic ones miss the same things.

After 35 years of receiving them, here's the schedule template we wish more specifiers had on file.

The six lines that get missed most

1. Door weight, specified per opening.

Almost no hardware schedule includes door weight. But the closer and hinge specifications fitted to your doors depend on it - and the wrong rating shows up as a sagging door 18 months later, or an accessibility force-of-operation failure on day one.

Get the actual leaf weight from the door supplier. Put it on the schedule.

2. Fixing centres confirmed against the actual door.

The fixing centres on the architect's drawing aren't always the fixing centres on the door that arrives. Door specs evolve through a project; core construction changes, frame thicknesses change, supplier substitutions happen. A handle specified at 200mm fixing centres won't fit a door drilled at 220mm.

Confirm fixing centres with the door supplier before you finalise the hardware spec. Put them on the schedule as a confirmed dimension, not an assumed one.

3. Finish reference, not just a colour name.

"Antique brass" from three different suppliers gives you three different tones. On one floor of a single project, the variation is visible. Across a building, it's a call back.

Specify the actual reference, a manufacturer's finish code, or a physical sample number that everyone on the project is matching to. "Antique brass to manufacturer's stated sample reference" tells the supplier exactly what to deliver. "Antique brass" tells them to interpret.

4. Cycle rating per opening type.

Reception entrance doors, breakout-room doors, and toilet doors don't need the same handle. A reception handle might see 800 operations a day. A toilet handle might see 50. Specifying the same product across all of them is either overspending in the low-traffic areas or under-specifying in the high-traffic ones.

BS EN 1906 Grade 4 is rated for 200,000 cycles. On a reception door doing 800 operations a day, that's 250 days of certified performance, under a year. On a toilet door, it's 11 years. Match the cycle rating to the door's actual use.

5. Compliance specifics, not "compliant".

"Compliant" is the word that hides the most variation. Compliant with what? BS EN 1906 (mechanical performance of handles) is a different test to BS EN 1634 (fire resistance of door assemblies). DDA accessibility has specific force-of-operation requirements. The Building Safety Act has documentation requirements for buildings over 11 metres.

Name the standards your project actually needs. The schedule should reference test certificates, not generic compliance language.

6. Lead time, agreed in writing.

Verbal lead times aren't programme-able. "About four weeks" turns into seven when material has to be sourced or finishes have to be hand-applied.

Get the lead time from the manufacturer in writing, against the actual specification, before the schedule is issued for tender. A signed lead time means the contractor's programme isn't built on assumption.

The pre-spec call

Most of these gaps could be closed with a 30-minute call before the schedule is finalised.

We don't charge for that conversation. Architects and contractors can email us a draft schedule, get a second pair of eyes on it, and have the gaps flagged before the spec goes to tender.

Most schedules we review have three or four of the six gaps above. Catching them at draft stage prevents the conversation we'd otherwise be having in week 17 of the project, when the doors are arriving and someone's calling the factory at 4pm on a Friday.

The questions to ask the door supplier first

Before the hardware schedule is finalised, the door supplier needs to confirm five things:

• Final leaf construction (solid timber, engineered timber, glazed, metal-framed).

• Final leaf weight.

• Final fixing-centre dimensions.

• Whether the door is fire-rated and to what standard (FD30, FD60, etc.).

• Whether intumescent seals, drop seals, or threshold details are included or need separate specification.

Those five answers determine the bulk of the hardware schedule. Get them locked before you write the spec, not after.

The bottom line

A hardware schedule isn't a procurement document. It's a programme document. The information on it determines whether the hardware turns up correct, on time, and ready to install, or whether it becomes the line item that delays handover.

The six lines above won't make the schedule longer. They'll make it more useful.

If you're working on a project and want a second set of eyes on a hardware schedule before tender, get in touch. Half-hour call. No commitment.